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Emerald Tablet
Compare to The Emerald Tablets of Thoth the Atlantean The Emerald Tablet is the of . It first gained attention in the West, when it was mentioned in the (13th century). But the actual Tablet itself is unverifiable. The content of the text is reputed to contain the secret of the and its . The Text Probably the first mention of the "Emerald Tablet" and its text, in the West, was found in the (Latin for "The Secret of Secrets"), likely translated from a 10th-century work composed in Arabic,Holmyard was the first to find another early arabic version in the Kitab Ustuqus al-Uss al-Thani (Second Book of the Elements of Foundation) attributed to (Holmyard, 1957). found a 12th century recension claiming to have been dictated by Sergius of Nablus. Ruska also found another version appended to the Kitab Sirr al-Khaliqa wa San`at al-Tabi`a (Book of the Secret of Creation and the Art of Nature). Ruska has suggested an origin further east, and Needham has proposed an origin in China (Needham, 1980). known as Kitab Sirr al-Asar. It was translated into Latin in the mid-12th century,The Kitab Sirr al-Asar ('The Secret Book of Secrets') was translated into Latin by c. 1140 and by Philip of Tripoli c. 1243. Other translations may have been made during the same period by and . becoming influential among European intellectuals during the High Middle Ages. The Kitab Sirr al-Asar is a treatise which purports to be a letter from to his student . Holmyard,Holmyard (1957) Davis and Anon all consider that the "Emerald Tablet" text may be one of the earliest of all alchemical works to have survived. The Tablet Arguably, the oldest documented source of the "Emerald Tablet" is the "Kitab Balaniyus al-Hakim fi'l-`Ilal Kitāb sirr al-ḫalīqa" (book of Balanius the wise on the Causes) written in Arabic between the sixth and eighth centuries.Scholars have seen similarities between the Book of Balinas and the Syriac Book of Treasures written by Job of Odessa (9th century CE) and more interestingly the Greek writings of the bishop of Emesa in Syria from the mid fourth century. Though this suggests a possible Syriac source, non of these writings contain the tablet. This volume is attributed to "Balinas"Balinas is usually identified with , but there is little evidence to support this. The Kitab Balabiyus implies that Balinas found the tablet rather than wrote it. Discoveries of dead sea scrolls and texts suggest that hiding texts in caves is possible. (or Pseudo- ).Katharine Park, Lorraine Daston. The Cambridge History of Science: Volume 3, Early Modern Science. Cambridge University Press, 2006. p.502 The Kitab Balaniyus frames the Emerald Tablet as ancient Hermetic wisdom. It tells the reader that Balinas discovered the Tablet itself in a vault below a statue of Hermes in , and that inside the vault, an old man on a golden throne held the emerald tablet.Florian Ebeling. The Secret History of Hermes Trismegistus: Hermeticism from Ancient to Modern Times. Cornell University Press, 2007. p. 46-47, 96 The Greeks and Egyptians were also known to use the term 'emerald' to describe green granite "and perhaps green jasper". The , now kept in , which is a hexagonal dish of the Roman era was also said to be made of "emerald", but in fact is made of green Egyptian glass.Steele and Singer, p. 488 A fabricated "Emerald Tablet" is currently on display at the Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum in San Jose, California. It is not a "replica", as there is no original tablet to replicate. The text on display however, does replicate the cipher symbols found in many of the translations of the Arabic .Sacred Texts, The Emerald Tablet of Hermes (Translations) The Author In the Kitab Ustuqus al-Uss al-Thani (Second Book of the Elements of Foundation) attributed to , "Balinas mentions the engraving on the table in the hand of Hermes".Holmyard, 1923, p.562 In a 12th century recension attributed to Sergius of Nablus , 1927 — Balinas "came up to an old man sitting on a golden throne, who was holding an emerald table in one hand." According to ,McLean, Adam. Bacstrom's Rosicrucian Society. Hermetic Journal No.6 1979 allegedly from a Chaldean translation, attribution is given to "The Secret Works of CHIRAM ONE", or , the Phoenician king of Tyre (10th century BCE). The Latin translations beginning in the 12th century, typically give attribution to in the rise of . Hermes Trismegistus ("Hermes the Thrice-Greatest") is a Hart, G., The Routledge Dictionary of Egyptian Gods and Goddesses, 2005, Routledge, second edition, Oxon, p 158 combination of the Greek god Hermes and the ancient Egyptian god Thoth.(Budge The Gods of the Egyptians Vol. 1 p. 415) Despite claims of antiquity, the Tablet text is believed to be an Arabic work. . The Western Esoteric Traditions : A Historical Introduction. Oxford University Press, 2008. p. 34. Thus, none of the Arabic sources use the actual name "Hermes Trismegistus". It is common for historians and researchers to misidentify the two Biblical s together, and to either one as the Prophet in the , as , as , as king of Tyre, as , as the Greek god, and as — all as one in the same person or similar variation. ;Notes References Category:Paranormal